Where to start?

[sirhk100]

Let me start by saying I'm very mechanically enclined! Engine swaps, sure... engine rebuilds, check... Transmission swaps... no problem... custom 1 off long travel home fabbed suspension, bring it on... 3 link rear with 24"+ of travel, got that... Install a car stereo, this afternoon's project... Etc etc etc...

A/C system??? Crap, it's not blowing cold!!! What now??? I'm A/C dumb!!! I read thru the first couple pages of glacier991's sticky post on R12-R134 conversion but finally gave up cause probably about 90% of it was like rocket science to me and didn't involve turning wrenches.

Here's my situation... I'm not rich but I can afford to pay some labor but would like to tackle as much of this as I can before I take it into a pro. I live in Las Vegas, and the 10 day forecast on weather.com shows us at around 107 most of the days.

I bought a '91 explorer about 2 weeks ago. It's a "fixer upper"... I've already got a lot of the stuff taken care of that I wanted to do right off the bat and I'm heading into tackling the a/c system. The story is the expo was wrecked at one point along the way. The condenser up front was the first thing damaged which would make sense in a center punch to a tree right. The previous owner swapped out to a '95+ front clip. I bought it knowing what I was getting into... No worries there, like I said, fixer upper.

When I bought the expo the guy physically handed me the condenser to mount in front of the radiator. Okay, there's you're problem!!! LOL He also mentioned to me that the accumulator was trashed and needed replaced along with one of the lines.

I get it home... Pop the hood and here's what I've noticed from the a/c dumb person I am.

The BOX (technical term) sticking out from the fire wall has one hard line at the bottom heading up to where the condenser should be. The line at the top is a couple inches long with a loose threaded coupler on it. The compressor is mounted on the engine with the belt there to run it. That's it, that's all that's in the engine compartment. Everything else is missing...

So in my mind... I need to install a condenser and an accumulator along with all missing lines to hook them up. I've picked up from reading that anytime the system is opened that the accumulator should be replaced anyways. I'm guessing any and all o-rings I stumble on should be replaced also. I'm assuming my '91 pump is still R12 and from reading I "think" I should replace it with a new unit anyways if converting over to R134.

So my plan off attack was to install the condenser the previous owner gave me with the expo. Buy a new accumulator and buy a new compressor. Then go to the junkyard and pull all the missing hoses and lines I need. Then physically install everything. At that point my thought was take it to a shop and have them work their magic explaining what I was dealt and how I tackled it.


Agree??? Disagree??? Should I go about it some other way? Like I said, I'd like to do as much of the labor and parts purchase/install myself to help save some cash but I know I don't have the equipment and knowledge to knock it out after reading what I've read. At what point do you suggest I say I've done the most I can and take it in?


As far as the R12 vs. R134 thing goes... With the condenser, accumulator, pump and lines, is there some that are R134 specific and I should make a point of pulling them off a '95 or newer? I guess to be safe it would probably be best just to yank everything off '95 and newer anyways just so I know it's all R134 compliant stuff...






An advice at a super intro level would be really appreciated! I'm hoping over the next week or so to get all the parts either ordered or gathered to start physically installing them.

Ohhhhh, any special tools I'm going to be needing for this adventure?

Thanks,
Khris

 

[arco777]

For the most part I agree with all your writing.

Every o-ring will need to be the newer R-134 o-rings. Some R-12 components may be able to run R-134 with the right o-rings, but NOT the compressor for example. I would buy a brand new complete o-ring kit, a new orifice tube, and whatever other parts you need including a new compressor. For any AC tubing you need, ones from a 94 would work fine because 94 models had R-134. 1995+ style equipment may differ from your configuration.

Once you put it all together, take it to an AC shop and have them work their magic. They'll put the system under a vacuum, check for leaks, and properly charge it.

It won't be cheap to do but it's possible. Consider making some upgrades to the system, like adding a heater bypass valve (there's a how-to on this forum).

 

[jbbumper]

Hello, I am converting my 1991 Ranger 3.0 over and bought everything except for the manifold line (compressor to condenser) on the auction site. I have to have that fabricated because of the availability. What is your engine size? Is your compressor on the right under your alternator? That's the problem I had because of the location of mine. If it's on the left above the PS pump, I don't think you will have a problem finding one. The 4.0 and 2.9 are available. Most of the rest of the components are pretty much the same for all engine sizes, as far as I know.